Ohio Man Who Attacked Officers On Jan. 6 Sentenced To 4 Years In Prison, Calls Conviction ‘A Huge Win’

On Thursday, Kenneth Joseph Owen Thomas from East Liverpool, Ohio, was sentenced to four years and ten months in prison for his assault on law enforcement officers at the January 6 attack on the Capitol in 2021.

The Justice Department described him as a “one-man misinformation machine” as he spread false information about the events of that day online. Despite his conviction in June on four counts related to the assaults, Thomas expressed no remorse and instead considered his conviction a “huge win,” the prosecutors’ court documents say.

In the hearing, the prosecution highlighted Thomas’ apparent lack of regret and pointed out that he sought fame and notoriety after he took part in the mob.

U.S. District Court Judge Dabney Friedrich, who presided over the case in Washington, D.C., imposed a $20,000 fine and ordered Thomas to pay $2,000 in restitution in addition to his prison sentence.

Federal prosecutors had requested a prison sentence of approximately nine years for Thomas. Court records listed that his significant spread of lies about the attack was hard to overstate.

Thomas went to great lengths to spread falsehoods and created a webpage and brand centered around his self-proclaimed identity as a writer.

He produced over 20 hours of content each week related to the events of January 6, with repeated false claims that the day was a setup.

Prosecutors asserted that the most effective way to protect the community from Thomas in the future was to remove him from society for a significant period. 

Thomas’ attorney, Joseph R. Conte, stated that his client, a U.S. Navy veteran, fully understood the gravity of his actions and took complete responsibility for them.

However, prosecutors contended that unlike some other individuals involved in the Capitol riot who expressed remorse or shame in court, Thomas did not show any signs of regret.

At the riot, he harassed police and continually shouted, “This is our house!” and “traitors, traitors, traitors!”

Court documents say that at roughly 3:30 p.m. that day, Thomas ran towards police officers and “punched and/or violently pushed his fists” directly into an officer’s chest. He further positioned himself at the forefront of the mob and shouted at the officers, “You have woken a sleeping giant!”

Prosecutors revealed that Thomas capitalized on his actions and appeared on podcasts and webcasts to discuss his case and charges. They further noted that he had received over $77,000 in donations as a result.

The Justice Department has said that over 1,000 individuals from nearly all 50 states have been arrested in connection with crimes related to the Capitol riot.